Best Friend: A Lifetime's Worth of Blessing
by StellaAllets
Summary: It takes two worlds to form a lasting friendship. It takes two worlds to know what's worth in this world. Friendship fic of Claire & Karen. Pairings inside
1. What Worths a Best Friend

**My first fanfic ever! A friendship fanfic about Claire and Karen from Harvest Moon. please enjoy :)**

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**_Claire's POV_**  
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"What do you mean?" asked Karen.

"I think Anna does not like me," I explained.

"How do you know? What did she do to make you conclude such a thing?" Karen asked again.

"I'm .. I'm not sure ... But from how she looks at me. I'm sure of that," I said, looking down.

"That makes the two of us then," Karen smiled at me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Sure she's one of my mother's closest friend, but I think she's talking about me behind my mother's back. She's like the queen of gossip in this town. I know she is a woman who is like a perfectionist, and I'm sure she could not tolerate my bad traits, so do the math," Karen explained calmly.

"Bad traits? Like?" I asked again.

"Hahahaha oh Claire, can you not mention one thing about my bad character? I can spell a hundred for you," Karen laughed.

"Karen, seriously. Like what?" I asked, getting rather annoyed.

"Getting drunk, Slacking ... Can you see it Claire?" Karen asked.

"Oh? Hahahaha. Those are the bad things you want to say? It's not bad for me. That's part of life. Besides, life can not be too serious, or it will be boring. Moreover, because of those things, you are my friend Karen!" I said as i hugged Karen tightly.

Karen just laughed and hugged me back.

But the thing I said was true. Karen was, is, and will always be my best friend. Or to be more specific, my only one. And I think I was her only friend. But we both do not care. As long as we have each other, we will continue to live.

Honestly, i don't think i could live without her. Not that I want to exaggerate.

When I first got here, everything was so bad for me. I had to take care of an abandoned farm. None of the residents in this town seemed to be a friend to me. Indeed, most of them were very friendly. But I personally was never too comfortable with hospitality. I was too scared to falsehood. And this was all because the dark past i once had. It is indeed very difficult to explain.

To fix the abandoned field, I began to visit the supermarket frequently. Not that i liked visiting people, but this one could not be avoided. I had to eat, I had to buy seeds to plant in my field. So that i could continue living. This is where I first met Karen.

Initially, she looked mysterious and unfriendly. However, over the time I realized that she was just a lonely girl like me. I began talking to her. Our relationship was initially very awkward because none of us were fluent speaking with new people. Recognizing the many similarities of us, we started to build a friendship.

Over the time we became very close. Karen was very real. There was no fakeness inside of her. If she did not like something, she would say it directly. Karen was the person who was being herself. And you did not know how difficult it was to find people like this in this century.

I am very grateful to have a friend like her. Finding a friend is not a job that could easily be done like finding enemies.

We walked down the hills near my field. Karen helped me to take wild plants that can later be sold to Zack. Along the way, we did not stop talking. Here's another thing that can be done by me only in front of Karen, and Karen can only do it in front of me: talking without stopping. To be near people who make you feel comfortable will make you feel more comfortable to be yourself. Around others, i'm a very awkward person. Same thing happened with Karen.

Actually in this city there were four other girls who were about the same age as me, other than Karen. They were Elli, Mary, Popuri, and Ann. Elli was quite close to Mary. Both of them were the type of girls who are dignified, calm, and charming. You would find it very difficult to find any mistakes on these two girls. But unfortunately, my personality with those two didn't fit. I'm counted as a girl who liked to relax and do anything as my will, just like Karen.

Popuri was close to Ann. Maybe not too close, because Ann herself was closer to Cliff and Gray, two boys who live in the inn. Popuri herself was often isolated because of the protective treatment of her brother, Rick. However they both were often seen spending time together at the Goddess Pond in the morning. They both had this sort of happy-go-lucky trait, although Ann was more of a tomboy while Popuri was very feminine and more authoritative. Ann and Popuri were both very friendly though.

Finished helping my work, Karen said goodbye to me.

"Do not forget tonight at 8 at the bar! See you later," Karen said as she waved to me.

After receiving my salary today from Zack, I hurried to the bathroom, clean myself from all kinds of dirt that clung to me because of my job as a farmer. I immediately took my pink tank top and black pants and wore them immediately. After finished cleaning myself, I immediately went to the bar. Actually there was still an hour to 8PM, but I did not know what to do at home. I was planning to go for a drink first, Karen might joined in later, i thought.

when I got to the bar, I was greeted warmly by Ann. Typical Ann, full of friendliness. The wide smile never left her face. I just smiled at her behavior. I immediately took a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. People say, a drink in the evening is the right thing to eliminate all the fatigue after a day of work. I immediately perked up my drink without thinking. What an exhausting day, I thought.

At the end of the table, I saw Cliff and Gray were sitting together. Cliff just smiled at me. Cliff was a friendly person. Even so, He was very shy. This was reflected very clearly from him. I gave a small smile to him, only to return the hospitality.

Gray on the other hand was very different from Cliff. They were both quiet, but Gray was so .. What was it? Spooky? I was not sure. He just looked at me with a sharp look from a distance. Just a fact about me, I'm a person with short temper. But I was willing to bet that Gray had shorter temper than i did. I'd better just ignore him, I thought.

Ann came up to me and asked me to chat. She asked about my farm and others. After that she left me alone. I was left sitting alone until Karen finally arrived.

"Claire! How could you come first?" Karen asked with a chuckle.

"Well then, i guess the drink for tonight will be treated by you right?" I asked, joking.

"Where did you jump into that conclusion? No way!" Karen said hysterically while laughing.

Me and Karen sat right next to each other, drinking, chatting about alot of things. Some people were staring at us. I didn't know if it was because we were to loud, or they were confused at us for being loud because we were always known for being mysterious, quiet or should i say awkward. Or, it would probably because we were the only young ladies in the city who drinks.

Yeah, i guess it was probably because the last part. I mean, the way they stared at us were...

Oh, to the hell with all of these people! We're the best duo in the century!

From what i had seen, i knew that me and Karen were probably the most hated young ladies in the city. We didn't have the manners they expect us, young ladies, to have. We liked to slack and get drunk. We're not very friendly and often awkward. If we didn't like something, we would say it directly without holding back; we avoid being the gossip ladies in this town as much as we could. But i guess, not everyone in this town liked honesty. We were often considered as rude because of our honesty. We often become the hot topic for the gossip queens in the city, Manna and Anna. But you know what, we didn't care, or at least try to not care. It was indeed difficult, but I wasn't going to be someone else just to be liked by the town. Who cares if it was only Karen who liked me, as long as i can be myself.

I looked around to see some unfriendly stares at us, but then i looked at my bestfriend's face, as she was smiling at me.

To have a bestfriend like Karen, i didn't mind all the hatred that i got.

It was worth it.

**A/N: How was it? I'm sorry if i had grammar errors, honestly i'm not a native speaker, so i tried my best not to make any major mistakes. :)**

**Pairings in this story are not decided yet. Next chapters will be posted soon hopefully :) Review? :3  
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	2. What Makes a Great Pain

**Yay for another update! Read and Review? :3**

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What a boring routine, I thought.

Why am I farming, you ask? The story itself was rather long, but for sure I still needed to eat to live, so do the math.

My brother was also a farmer, a very well-known farmer from Forget-Me-Not Valley. I myself arrived in Mineral Town about a year ago.

Although I have lived in Mineral Town for a year, none of the residents in this town knew that my brother was the famous farmer in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Forget-Me-Not Valley was not far from Mineral Town. Maybe if they knew, they would be startled. The only one who knew about this was Karen. I just did not want to be compared to my own brother.

It's strange to live in a small town for a year when no one really knew about you except Karen. Actually, if Karen did not force me to tell her, I probably had not told her about this.

After finished watering my crops, I immediately went to Yodel Farm. On my way, I bumped into Rick. I immediately remembered the incident last night.

_"Oh, hi Karen. Hi Claire," Rick said with a smile._

_"Hi Rick," I replied to his greeting._

_"H-hi R-rick .." Karen replied haltingly._

_Actually it was somewhat funny to see Karen like this, she usually calm and controlled, but i guess not now. When will i get to see Karen being shy like this? I just chuckled seeing Karen's behavior._

_Karen had told me about her relationship with Rick. Rick was a childhood friend of Karen. At first, they were close. It all started when they were kids. As a child, Karen was a beautiful little girl who often got mocked because of other kids' jealousy. Seeing this, Rick began to defend Karen. Karen was confused at Rick's action because she remembered that she, at that time, had no friends. After then, Rick protected Karen from anything, although according to Karen his actions were very stupid. But because of Rick's stupidity, Karen began developing feelings for the glasses boy._

_But as time went by, they grew up. Their relationship was not as close as it used to be. Since Rick's father left, Rick became very concerned with his mother and his sister. Rick started to forget about other things. What he thought was his family and how to maintain their business. Rick's father never came back, as they never heard of Rick's father anymore. Not even a single letter. Rick was sad, mad, and angry at his dad._

_After all of that, he had to remain strong and become the foundation of the family. Frankly, I admired him for that._

_However, it was clear from that time that Karen and Rick were not close anymore. Karen told me how puzzled she was to her own feelings. She couldn't even tell if she was still into him._

_"Drinking to relieve stress?" Rick asked, smiling, interrupting my musings._

_"Uh, yes ... so is Karen," I stammered, confused on why i brought Karen up. I could see from the corner of my eye that Karen was giving me her death stare. Have I told you that I'm an awkward person?_

_"Oh Karen, by the way i have not seen you here lately. Where have you been?" Rick asked kindly._

_"I-I usually spend the night on the beach. I'd rather drink there, it's beautiful there," explained Karen, calming herself._

_I could see clearly that Karen's face flushed, not due to drinking of course._

_I chuckled once again at Karen's action. Seeing Karen being nervous because of a man, i started to think to myself, when will i experience the same thing?_

"Good morning Claire. What are you staring at?" Rick asked, waving his hand in front of my face, once again interrupting my musings.

"Ah, good morning, Rick. It's nothing, i spaced out," I replied awkwardly.

"I see. Where are you going this early?" Rick asked kindly.

"Yodel Farm. I have to buy food for my cows," I said.

"Oh, good luck on your farm then," Rick said as he waved.

I walked away from Rick to the Yodel Farm. After getting my business done at Yodel Farm, I immediately went back to my farm and completed my job for the day. After that I went to the supermarket to meet Karen.

"Hey Karen, what are you doing?" I asked Karen who was sitting and reading a magazine.

"Do you not know what day tomorrow is?" Karen asked, ignoring my question.

"Umm ... Tuesday? Your day off? Another treat from you at the bar?" I asked, confused.

"No silly, and i'm not treating you again. Tomorrow is the day where we celebrate the Goddess Festival," explained Karen, trying to restore my memory.

"Oh, right," I replied curtly.

"Can you be more excited than this?" Karen asked.

"OH MY GOD LIKE KAREN LIKE TOMORROW IS THE DAY! LIKE THE GODDESS FESTIVAL! THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE! NO WAY! Slap me now! Wake me up!" I shouted sarcastically.

Karen's father, Jeff, chuckled seeing us.

"Look at these. A bunch of letters from some guys, asking me to go to the Goddess festival with them," said Karen showed me a stack of letters.

I looked at the stack of letters. All of them were from guys outside the town. Well, what can i say, Karen's pretty popular.

"Wow, did you say yes to one of them?" I asked.

Karen stayed silent.

"Hey? Karen? Did you?" I asked curiously.

"Did anyone invite you to the Goddess festival?" Karen asked.

"Eh? No. I think not. I have not checked my mailbox yet though," I said.

Karen was silent again.

"Hey Karen, is something wrong?" I asked, interrupting her reverie.

Karen did not answer my question. She brought all of the letters she received and threw everything into the trash can at once.

"H-Hey! What are you doing?" I asked, surprised.

"You did not go to the Goddess festival last year, right?" Karen asked, smiling.

"Yeah. If you mean Gotz gave me his daughter's dress to me the day after the festival, I think you're right," I said sarcastically.

"Have you learned the dance?" Karen asked me, still laughing at my last comment.

"Who said i'll be going?" I asked.

"What else are you waiting for? You still have the dress with you right?" Karen asked.

"Uhh.. yes"

"Well then?"

"Right. But i can't dance," I said.

"And i was about to teach you how to dance before you interrupted me with your nonsense," Karen said, rolling her eyes.

"Nonsense," i told her.

"Right"

"I was not supporting you, Karen"

We kept on arguing about our nonsense, while throwing funny insult at each other. Yeah, we're always like this. Have i mentioned that we're the best duo ever? Now we're the best idiotic duo ever.

Karen decided that she was going to teach me about the goddess dance. I mean, oh my goddess, i cannot dance. But i can rhyme, which i just did (?) But Karen did not listen to me. I would definitely blame her if this dance thing went wrong.

After the supermarket's closed, which was around 4PM, Me and Karen went to my house. Karen promised me that i would master the dance in just an hour. Let's see if she got the last thing right.

We trained for almost an hour. I had to admit that i underestimated her, i mean based on my dancing skill, but she was a good teacher! I mean, she could make me, a person who epicly fail at dancing, feeling confident about dancing!

"Hahh... that was exhausting," I said gasping for breath.

"Come on Claire! One other round and we're done!" Karen said, excited as ever.

"W-What? I... I can't," I said gasping for another breath.

"Okay fine," Karen said somewhat disappointed.

I sat down to calm myself. I took a deep breath as i set my breath slowly. Karen sat down beside me, smiling.

"Thank you Karen! You do not know how good you are as a teacher!" I smiled back.

"No, Claire. It was because the dance was not difficult. And you are not as horrible as you think in dancing!" she said, patting my shoulder.

Not difficult? I could hardly breathe because of this! I was willing to say that farming is much easier than this, I thought.

"Not difficult, eh? Hahaha..." I laughed awkwardly.

"Of course not!" Karen said, patting my shoulder harder.

Me and Karen just laughed at this situation. Although my shoulder almost fell off because she patted my shoulder hard.

But then again, to have a best friend who could overcome your weaknesses...

I'm fine with the pain in my shoulder.

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**A/N: how was it? did i improve? xD**

**i DON'T think that i'm going to pair Karen with Rick... but i thought that i would give the two a little history.**

**i haven't decided who should be Claire's partner. Who do you think should be her partner? ;**

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_CliffAnnFC_: Alisa-san! thank you so much for the review! i thought ive told you that i haven't spoken Jap for awhile xD カイ とカレンは、することができるのだと思います！

_dannt: _aww thank you so much! i hope you dont mind all the grammar errors i had ^^


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